Friendship Hereby Postponed
by perfectlyhorriddarling
Summary: I'm turning this into a collection of one-shots, mainly about Stefan and Caroline, throughout all the seasons.
1. Friendship Hereby Postponed

This is set in season 3 right after Lexi has tortured Stefan and then Bonnie sent all the ghosts back to the Other Side.

My senses were weak but I could still hear Elena talking to Caroline at the top of the stairs.

"Look can you just watch him tonight? I'll send Damon to check on him in the morning," Elena was saying.

"He's locked up, Elena. I don't see why I need to be here," Caroline protested.

"I just need this one thing from you Caroline! I'll see you tomorrow!" Elena whined before leaving. Without my humanity it was a lot easier to see the similarities between her and Katherine. I heard Caroline huff and then stomp down the stairs, finally coming into view. She was wearing dark jeans, black heeled boots, and a tight, black, and revealing t-shirt. She only dressed like that when she was mad at someone or about to kick someone's ass. And now I was going to be trapped in a cell with her all night. Great. She was scowling, but hardly looking at me, glaring around at the room as she leaned against the door frame. She seemed agitated.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked, already annoyed with the night.

"You were off on a killing spree so you wouldn't know but I was tortured in this room like less than a week ago," Caroline said with a frown.

"Damon put you in here?" I guessed, surprised.

"My father," Caroline said drily. I raised my eyebrows at her. The only thing that I knew about Caroline's father was that he was gay and that he had left them and moved away from Mystic Falls.

"Why would your father torture you?" I asked her.

"Founding Families don't trust vampires, but since I was his daughter he thought that instead of killing me he would try to torture the vampire out of me," Caroline droned as she sat in the doorway, her knees bent and arms lazily draped over them. She was tense but trying to look relaxed, though that effort didn't seem to be for my benefit.

"Let me get this straight. Your gay father thought that he could undo what nature made you with behavioral modification? That's pretty ironic," I said, straining a little against my wrist constraints.

"Really, Stefan? That irony was lost on me when he was burning the flesh off my body," she quipped at me and I laughed.

"There she is! The blonde mean girl that you try so hard to hide nowadays," I spat but Caroline just rolled her eyes.

"Well if you're going to act like a bitch then so am I," she responded flashing me one of her killer smiles. I smirked. Caroline was a lot more fun than Elena with all her 'epic love' drama. "So I don't get it. When Damon had his humanity off you barely even tried to keep him away from everyone. What makes you so special that you get your own little cell and ghostly intervention?"

"I'm a ripper. Ripper's don't stop," I explained. "And if you'll remember I did lock Damon up."

"Oh, I remember. You drugged me, let him almost kill me, and then left me in the middle of a field. And then, you were stupid enough to believe that his compulsion wasn't powerful enough to bring me right back to let him out. You really need to work on this whole hero thing once your humanity is back on." I smiled at her though she wasn't looking at me. It seemed that to hold her end of our banter she only needed half her attention, as she was looking around the room and playing with the end of one of her curls. Her hair was down, seeming to move with every breath she took. It was mesmerizing and I found myself following it. After all, there wasn't much else to look at down here.

"Well, Caroline I think we both know that you like the bad guys better anyway. If you let me out I could take you up on your offer. We could go see the falls," I said suggestively thinking of the night of the first bonfire. Caroline smirked at me.

"You and me, Stefan? It's not gonna happen," she said sweetly and I chuckled.

"Oh Caroline don't be mean. I thought we were friends!"

"As of now, our friendship is hereby postponed. But don't worry, we can be friends when Elena decides to let you out of here. We can go get a drink, maybe share a brunette if you promise not to kill her," Caroline offered. I tried not to think of how alluring it would be to hunt with Caroline.

"Caroline, you haven't been listening. I'm a ripper and ripper's don't stop. Besides, I sort of have a thing for blondes," I smirked and she rolled her eyes before flipping her curls over her shoulder and standing to walk around the cell. She gave me a once over and wrinkled her nose. It was pretty adorable but just grated on my already strung-out nerves. Caroline, for some reason, did not agree with the ripper. I didn't know if it was she was so emotional that I automatically shied away from her or because she can get a reaction without looking for one. Elena was always watching me like a hawk, waiting to see me slip up and feel something for her. Caroline just went about our conversation, not expecting much from me and accepting what she got. It was…unnerving.

"So I have a question about the whole ripper thing. If you're a ripper, and rippers don't stop then how come Elena isn't dead?" she asked innocently. Again, she hardly seemed to watch for my reaction.

"Because Klaus still has use for her and I have to do everything he says," I said, annoyed with this line of questioning.

"Yeah but the only reason Klaus even compelled you is because your 'love'" she put this in air quotes with her long fingers, "is stronger than your ripper tendencies." I narrowed my eyes at her skeptical tone.

"You don't think so?"

"If I believed in that kind of love, sweetheart, I would not be dating Tyler Lockwood. And he would definitely not be sired to Klaus. Nope, I think that the restraint is all you. I think you could control it whenever you wanted to you just have to want it bad enough," Caroline finished and regained her seat in the doorway.

"You're more of a control freak than I originally thought," I said, dismissing her opinion. "But not everyone is as uptight as you are Caroline."

"You taught me everything I know, Stefan," she reminded me. "But it's just a theory. Maybe Elena's right and the universe really does revolve around her." We sat in silence for a couple minutes.

"Did I hear you say that you're dating Tyler Lockwood now?" I asked.

"Again, if you weren't leaving a trail of bodies down the eastern seaboard you would know all this gossip already," Caroline said, checking her perfect nails.

"Well that's just ridiculous. I mean Matt I sort of understood, All American goody-two shoes and he made you forget that you weren't normal for a little while. But Tyler Lockwood? Even as a human you were way out of his league and now he's a werewolf, he's Klaus' puppy dog," I complained. Caroline sent me a glare.

"Shut up," she said, apparently done with our battle of wits. I watched her as she nervously eyed the chain to raise the window covering and almost felt a pang of pity that her dad had tortured her. Not to mention Elena making her stay down here with me within a week of her traumatic experience. But then again Caroline was a lot more tough than we all thought she was. I thought of the first time she was tortured by the werewolves. I had been so angry that they were hurting her. But afterwards all she had cut me out, stayed strong, and put on her Miss Mystic face the next day. I glanced back at her sexy outfit, dark eye makeup, and brooding stare.

"Not girly little Caroline anymore," I murmured. She flicked her gaze to mine.

"And you're not exactly star-crossed Stefan." Caroline leaned her head back and closed her eyes but she was still anxious. She eventually fell asleep and I watched as her hair puffed away from her face with every breath. Come morning, Damon would be here to torture me some more and provoke some emotional reactions. But for now, I was okay with being down here with the first blonde I'd been happy to see in days.


	2. Den of Neurotic Insanity

So I might continue just adding some one-shots, mainly Stefan and Caroline centric. This one is set after the episode where Rebekah traps everyone at the school and Elena says she's not in love with Stefan anymore.

Den of Neurotic Insanity

I laid out the blanket on Caroline's couch as I had been doing for a while now. Technically Elena wasn't staying at the boarding house anymore but it wasn't like I wanted to be around Damon either.

"You know we have a guest room right? It's full of stuff right now but I can clean it out," Caroline said as she put a tumbler of whisky on the coffee table in front of me.

"This is fine. I don't want to cause you any more trouble than I already do," I sighed.

"Oh come on, Stefan. It's not like there's anyone here to care," Caroline replied. She cast a slightly sad look around her home. It was true, I had barely seen her mom the whole time I had been staying here. Caroline's living room was a bit like her, bright and beautifully decorated like it could be out of a magazine. But there weren't any family pictures up and aside from the mess I made there was no clutter of a lived in space. Caroline was too much of a clean freak to leave anything out and her mom was never here to make messes. Caroline had probably picked out every piece of furniture by herself.

"Is it your dad's old stuff? In the spare room?" I asked curiously but Caroline shook her head.

"No. The spare room is like the cellar at your house. I keep all my secrets in there," she teased and I laughed.

"Really? Secrets that your best friend doesn't know about?" I teased. She spared me a calculating glance.

"Best friend?"

"Yeah, well, Klaus mentioned that he was my only friend the other day. I realized that while I did only have one real friend, it certainly wasn't him," I admitted and watched for her reaction. She sighed.

"Well then I guess that I can show my _best friend_ ," she conceded and I gave her a smile before following her to the spare room. She opened the door to reveal a freakishly clean and organized room, stocked full of stuff. The closet was packed with clothes and nice dresses in vacuum sealed bags, the walls were lined with bookcases, file cabinets, and storage cupboards. There were labels on everything and a desk with every sort of office supplies ready at hand in neat little piles, perfectly straight and waiting to be used. There was a big calendar hanging on the wall with this month open, planned out and color coded and full of neat notes and plans.

"So basically this is your den of neurotic insanity," I summed up as I sat on the edge of the bed, pushed into the corner to allow room for Caroline's stuff.

"Pretty much," she agreed. She sat in her desk chair and then turned to look at me. I was tired, as I knew she was, but I didn't want to go to sleep. I didn't want to be alone with my thoughts regarding Elena and this new heartbreak.

"How's Tyler?" I asked her, to fill the silence. She shrugged.

"I dropped him off at his house. He didn't want me to stay with him, but I think he's starting to deal with it. Hopefully he doesn't do anything stupid," Caroline said. Her tone was nonchalant but I knew she was worried.

"Tonight was pretty rough," I commented.

"Yeah," Caroline sighed. "So are you going to tell me what happened after we got separated?" I glanced over at her knowing look. She seemed to always know when I was keeping something from her.

"Well you heard pretty much everything. Elena's in love with Damon and she's not in love with me. They slept together and she clearly doesn't regret it," I droned.

"Yeah but you were hurt then and now you're angry. So what happened between then and now?" Caroline pushed. I sent her a glare. Sometimes she was too observant for her own good.

"Rebekah offered to compel me. To erase all my memories off Elena and our relationship. I would forget about her and move on and it wouldn't hurt like this anymore. And then when I agreed she threw it back in my face and told me to be miserable for all eternity," I sighed and rubbed my eyes, falling back to lay on the bed. "But I think I hurt Elena by agreeing. You should've seen her face." I was greeted by silence and then after a few moments I turned to Caroline because she was never silent. Her hands were clenched around the arms of her desk chair and her jaw ticked as she glared at the ceiling. "You're going to break that chair," I warned right as she snapped off one of the arms. She ignored it as if it hadn't even happened.

"I love Elena, I do, but I refuse to let _you_ feel guilty about hurting her feelings. She has no right to be hurt or to be angry about you wanting to forget. She doesn't get a say in how you feel anymore, Stefan. She slept with Damon, and yeah I know she has the sire bond but I don't think that Damon would have taken advantage of her in that way unless she was willing to sleep with him in the first place. She doesn't get to feel hurt that you would want to forget about her. Not that I'm saying you should or telling Rebekah to compel you was a good idea in any way, shape, or form, but it would be none of Elena's business." As she finished her rant and continued to glare at the door, I just stared at her. Other than the fact that she had just brought up everything I didn't really want to deal with about Elena and her feelings, she had just vocalized a little bit of the anger I was feeling towards Elena. She had dumped me and then slept with my brother, not to mention kicking me out of my house. And as I looked at Caroline, fuming in her perfect little room of organized glory, her hair catching the light of the desk lamp behind her making her look like a pissed off angel, I felt like I was allowed to feel some of that anger towards Elena, the caring saint that could do no wrong. I felt like I was allowed to be something other than devastated that we had broken up. I sighed and moved my gaze back towards the ceiling.

"Blondes make the greatest best friends," I said. I could feel Caroline's gaze as she let out a breathy laugh.

"So that's what I am to you? Just a Lexi replacement?" she asked, sensing I needed a change in subject.

"Pretty much," I teased. "So what does Tyler think of your vacuum sealed skeletons?"

"Oh he's never been in here. I keep the boyfriends away from my crazy town," Caroline said as she tried to fit the armrest she had broken back onto her chair.

"But I'm allowed in crazy town?" I asked.

"Yeah, well you are the only one as of yet to convince me I'm not being crazy instead of just staring at me like I belong in crazy town. So yeah, come whenever you'd like," Caroline invited. I chuckled at that. "So how about we make some brownies or something?" I looked over at her rapid change of pace, giving her an incredulous look. "What? It will take your mind off of the Elena drama, chocolate is the cure for broken hearts, and it's not like we can even gain any weight. We're vampires!"

"Brownies it is."


	3. Blondes Have Always Been Good To Me

This one is set when Stefan and Caroline get held hostage by Tyler's hybrid friends. I'm trying multiple POV's in this one so feel free to tell me if you like it or not.

* * *

Blondes Have Always Been Good To Me

STEFAN'S POV

I almost had to squint as Caroline walked up to me. She was dressed all in white and light pink and she glowed in the alleyway, a sharp contrast to her surroundings. She looked gorgeous, as usual, and I wondered if she did it on purpose, if she consciously knew that she always had to look that appetizing in order to be ready to distract Klaus at any moment. She was good at distracting, I knew that first hand.

"Did you find the sword?" she asked, bringing me back to the matter at hand. It wasn't long before Tyler showed up. He sounded pissed and he had an air of self-righteousness that was getting to be really annoying. As I turned to face him, I stepped slightly in front of Caroline. I knew she was being put in an awkward position. Tyler continued to make an ass of himself and berate Caroline, so I didn't think twice before vamp speeding around him, willing to do this the hard way.

"Stefan," Caroline said hesitantly.

"I'm sorry Caroline but I can't let him do this," I argued.

"Stefan," she called in a firmer voice. I glanced up and saw that she was looking behind me. We were surrounded by Tyler's vampire friends.

"It doesn't look like you have a choice," Tyler said smugly and I almost rolled my eyes. One of the hybrids came up and grabbed Caroline's arm roughly.

"You're going to let them treat your girlfriend like that?" I growled at Tyler. He glanced over at Caroline who was glaring at the hybrid who was touching her.

"She'll heal," he responded. "Let's take them down to the cellar."

* * *

CAROLINE'S POV:

Stefan was sitting in the back of the cellar, as far away from the two hybrids at the entrance as he could get and I was pacing in front of him. I was so sick of Tyler's stupid werewolf hybrid drama and this stupid cellar. And my feet were starting to hurt from wearing these gorgeous, but short term shoes.

"I swear if I get kidnapped and tortured by werewolves one more time I'm going to start taking this mortal enemy thing seriously and just start ripping the heart out of every werewolf I see," I mumbled and Stefan tried to hide his smirk. He slipped off his jacket and laid it out on the ground next to him, signaling me to sit down. I sighed at his thoughtfulness and sat. "Do you know what I'm really getting sick of? People are starting to think that I'm flaky, that I can't pull through on my responsibilities. I'm supposed to be organizing a gift donation booth right now."

"You are the least flaky person that I know, Caroline. I am absolutely sure no one thinks that of you," Stefan said with a scoff. "Besides, weren't you helping out all morning?"

"Yes but I was supposed to be helping out all afternoon as well. It just gets to me sometimes how all of this supernatural stuff gets in the way of everyday life. Why can't these life or death situations happen when I have a day off?" I asked and looked over to Stefan, who started laughing.

"Since when does Caroline Forbes take a day off?" he laughed and I rolled my eyes. "Besides, you do great juggling everything. You're valedictorian, still cheerleading captain, you run all of these committees, plan all these parties, and still somehow manage all the supernatural stuff better than the rest of us."

"No I don't," I sighed.

"Caroline do you even remember the last time anyone but you went to school? I'm actually surprised the teachers haven't expelled us yet," he said and I grimaced.

"That's because I compel them to think that you were there," I admitted but Stefan only laughed.

"See what I mean?" he said then sighed. "Elena and I were pretty bad at that- having a normal day amidst everything that was going on. Do you remember that double date we went on?"

"You mean the one where I made a complete fool of myself and acted all jealous of Elena?" I said, scrunching my face in embarrassment. Stefan smiled.

"Yeah, that one. Well that was our attempt at normalcy and it didn't really work out. And since the breakup, I haven't even really tried. My life has revolved around her for so long it seems silly to think of other things. And now she's sired to Damon and had real feelings for him before she turned and everything just seems that much more complicated," Stefan sighed.

"You know, you're allowed to take a break from all this drama every once in a while. It doesn't mean that you don't love her anymore, or that you're giving up on her. It just means that you're super old and need to like take a nap or something," I teased and Stefan pinched my arm.

"I am super old. I feel like I haven't felt like I haven't had a regular human day since Lexi came for my birthday," Stefan said and I saw his eyes dim a little at the mention of Lexi.

"Well, since I'm your Lexi replacement I propose that next week we have a totally normal, fun best friend day. Or at least an evening," I said, looking over at him. he smiled and shook his head at me, his eyes crinkling at the corners and his abnormally pointed canines showing.

"That sounds great. and you're not my Lexi replacement. You're another blonde that I don't deserve to have as a best friend," Stefan said and hid my smile. He really needed to stop saying things like that before my standards got too high and I had to break up with Tyler and stop hanging out with any of my other friends. "If only the doppelgangers were blonde. Blondes have always been good to me. Well, except Rebekah." I was about to laugh at him and that's when it hit me. Rebekah. I immediately stood and offered Stefan a hand up.

"I've got a plan."

* * *

A/N: If you have any requests for a one-shot or drabble about a certain scene, you can request something. I have a lot of things I want to do but I'll add yours to the list.


	4. There's a First Time for Everything

This one isn't set in any particular time but before either of them realizes their feelings for each other but after Stefan and Elena broke up. So s4-s5 ish.

* * *

 **There's a First Time for Everything**

"Come in!" I shouted. I was alone at the house, frosting cupcakes I had made for the upcoming birthday of one of mom's deputies. Another officer and his wife had just had a baby so I was also making a chicken pot pie casserole that I had just put in the oven after taking out the cupcakes. I heard Stefan walking in, the sound of his boots a familiar one. He stayed here most nights and though he hadn't been here in a day or two it wasn't odd for him to show up without calling. I gave him a smile as he came in and sat down at one of the stools on the other side of the counter. He returned it meekly but didn't speak, which was fine because I was concentrating on making these cupcakes perfect. I finished squeezing the frosting through the drop flower tip, checking the design of delicate and ruffled white flowers over the perfect mound of homemade confetti cake cupcakes. Pleased with what I saw, I plopped the first cupcake down in front of Stefan, without looking up at him, and then continued with the next one. There were plenty after all. After a few more cupcakes I became aware of Stefan's eyes on me.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked him but he just shook his head. He hadn't even picked up his cupcake. "Are you too manly to eat a cupcake?" He rolled his eyes at this and I smirked as he picked up his treat before turning back to frosting. A dozen cupcakes later the oven beeped signaling that the foil needed to be taken off of the chicken pot pie. I opened the oven and the delicious comfort smell filled the kitchen, mingling with the homemade frosting mouthwateringly. I removed the foil and then turned back to frosting only to find Stefan staring at me again. He had finished his cupcake and folded the wrapper into a neat little triangle, the light blue paper sitting between his fingers. I raised my eyebrows at him.

"I didn't know you could cook," he said.

"You've seen the hours my mom works. Prior to popular opinion, teenagers can't survive off of frozen pizza," I explained airily. Truthfully, it hadn't taken me that long to learn how to cook after dad left and mom started increasing her hours. In cooking and baking, there were set rules and instructions. When you did everything right it turns out how you want it to. There was an order about it and my control freakiness loved it. I wasn't the most fun person to cook _with,_ my attention to detail making it hard for me to accept any sloppy work. As it was, all of my cupcakes were uniform, perfect in every way, and my chicken pot pie had an equal ratio of chicken, carrots, and peas throughout the whole dish.

"Well, your cupcakes taste like rainbows," Stefan said seriously. "They're so delicious they should be fictional." He was still staring at me, in a way that made me think something really was wrong. But before I could say anything he continued. "So, are you expecting company or are we planning to eat this all by ourselves?" he asked, eyeing the two dozen more cupcakes left to be frosted. I liked the way he automatically included himself. After being kicked out of his house I wanted him to feel welcome here. We were partners in crime after all. A team.

"No, _we_ are not," I teased with a chuckle. "I make cupcakes for the officers on their birthdays. And the casserole is for one that just had his first baby. Mom said he's been picking up takeout everyday on the way home," I explained.

"Everyone at the station gets rainbows on their birthday?" Stefan asked his lips quirking up teasingly. I rolled my eyes at him in the afternoon light of the kitchen. His green eyes looked more focused than normal, but maybe it was just the lighting. He was wearing a grey v-neck t-shirt like the day that he taught me how to hunt bunnies.

"No, everyone gets their favorite. It just so happens that Deputy Lancer loves confetti cake with cream cheese frosting," I said and finished another cupcake.

"You know and remember every employee's favorite cupcake?" Stefan inquired in an amused, but unsurprised, tone.

"Yes, but just in case I forget…" I trailed off turning to open a cupboard with a flourish, revealing a list taped on the inside of the door detailing the police station birthdays and corresponding flavors. Stefan shook his head with a smile as I smirked and then went back to work.

"When did you start doing this?" I was a little thrown by all his questions. He seemed awfully curious about my activities today, as if he had never seen someone bake cupcakes.

"Since I was 9 or 10," I answered. Stefan nodded before lapsing into silence again, following my movements as I continued to frost the remaining cupcakes. He sometimes did that when he was worrying, following my movements but not really paying attention to what I was doing.

"What are you brooding about?" I asked with a frown. Stefan looked up at my eyes and tilted his head to the side like an adorable puppy. "Come on, spill."

"I'm not brooding about anything," Stefan laughed and gave me an innocent face. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion and slight disbelief. Stefan was always brooding about something, especially when he was being quiet.

"You're being too quiet to not be brooding," I pointed out and Stefan laughed again in disbelief.

"You're being quiet, too!" he protested. It was true, the atmosphere in the kitchen and the warm smells and soothing repetitive task had made me take a break from my usual rambling. I still scowled at him expecting a better answer.

"Yes, but I'm focused on what I'm doing, you're just… I don't know what you're doing," I argued. Stefan tried to hide his smile at my annoyance.

"I'm just—sitting here, Caroline. I was actually thinking about a little 9 year old you walking into the police station with a clipboard, writing down everyone's favorite cupcake flavor," he said with a smile. I narrowed my eyes at him again and he just seemed more amused that I didn't believe him, and something about the way he looked at me then alerted to me to what felt off about the situation.

All of Stefan Salvatore's attention was focused on me. Most of the time, even when we were alone, we were talking about Elena or Damon, or we were trying not to think about Elena or Damon. Or we would be trying to solve the latest supernatural dilemma that had popped up in Mystic Falls. And even if we weren't actively doing any of those things, even if we were watching a movie or talking about high school or hunting or Stefan's past, I could tell that he was thinking about them. About how he wished he could share these things with them. And it's not that I hadn't gotten Stefan's full attention before, I _had_ , many times. When he taught me how to hunt rabbits, when he was rescuing me from werewolves (which happened too often), when he was assessing my injuries, when he was comforting me or telling me I wasn't crazy. Stefan was one of the few people that I felt that listened to me with his full attention. But somehow this moment felt different. There wasn't any fear, or worry, or responsibility to feel. It was just a peaceful moment in a kitchen where Stefan Salvatore was thinking about nothing else but me.

There's a first time for everything.

* * *

"So are we starting an 'I was dumped by Elena Gilbert and may or may not be over her' club or what?" Matt asked me as I tossed him the football across the living room of the boarding house. I frowned at that, even though he was kidding.

"You aren't over Elena?" I asked. He rolled his eyes at me.

"I love Elena, but I'm no longer in love with her. Does that mean I'm over our relationship? I don't know. I'm definitely not over Caroline," he answered, tossing the ball back. I frowned even more but I figured Caroline would be really hard to get over. She was probably an amazing girlfriend and the only reason their relationship ended was because Caroline was protecting him from herself and Matt hadn't come to terms with her being a vampire. By the time he had she was already falling for Tyler.

"Well, no we're not forming a club. I just so happened to have the house to myself today and I've been spending all my time in Caroline's house with Caroline and I think she needed some space," I grimaced as I thought of all the time I had been taking from her.

"Nah, man you're her best friend. She loves spending time with you," Matt assured me and I felt a bit better. Caroline was the only reason I was surviving and not a ripper at the moment so it felt good to know that she at least tolerated me. "She should be here with lunch any minute. But I'm sure she appreciated the morning to herself. Have you ever seen her in productivity mode? It's like a hurricane, but backwards." Just then, Caroline burst in through the door, messy curls swinging around as she closed the door.

"Hey, Caroline!" Matt and I said in unison. She gave us one of her blinding smiles and put her bags of what smelled like homemade turkey bacon wraps and some cut up fruit and vegetables on the entry table.

"What have you guys been up to? Anything interesting?" she asked, her simple jean shorts and old cheerleading shirt giving away that she'd been either cleaning or studying in a frenzy this morning. She was still beautiful and looked adorable, of course, but I'd come to know how telling her outfits were. It was very rarely that Caroline allowed herself to be anything other than exceptionally stylish at all times, and this laid back outfit meant she had gotten some serious work done and wasn't planning on seeing anyone but the two of us today. If she had been seeing the girls or going into town she would have changed. Matt and I exchanged a look at her inquiry.

"Guy stuff," Matt replied and Caroline narrowed her eyes at us.

"Oh, I see, I don't get to hear the guy talk?" she teased.

"It's privileged information, Care," Matt said and threw the football to her. Caroline caught it with a surprising amount of skill even as she rolled her eyes and tossed a perfect spiral back at Matt.

"Wow," I commented. "Vampirism did a lot for your football skills." Matt snorted.

"Caroline's always been good at football," he said incredulously and then absentmindedly checked his watch. "I've got to go pick up my shift at the Grill but you guys should stop by later for a drink." Matt started to jog out the door, giving Caroline a playful smack on her rear, mumbling something to her about 'good game' which she scowled at.

"Wait!" Caroline called. "Take some food! If you keep only eating food from the Grill you're going to get diabetes!" she chided as she handed him a wrapped sandwich and a personal Tupperware with two compartments for the fruits and vegetables she had prepared.

"Thanks, Care!" Matt said and gave her a wink before leaving. "Bye, Stefan! We'll come up with our secret handshake later!" I scoffed as Caroline turned to me curiously.

"We're forming a 'Caroline Forbes charity case' club," I lied and she rolled her eyes again, not bothering to explain _again_ that I wasn't a burden to her or a project. She brought the food over to the coffee table and set it out for us, placing our own sandwiches and Tupperware neatly across from each other, also bringing out some recyclable bottles of what looked like cranberry juice with a shot or two of B positive. I studied her as she set everything out perfectly spaced. I guessed she had been studying this morning because if she had finished cleaning she wouldn't be acting this OCD.

"You know, I could help you study. I have gained _some_ knowledge over the years," I said and Caroline gave me her look that said she didn't know how I knew she what I knew (that she was studying) but was amused that I did and also suspicious of my knowledge, but letting it go. I got that look a lot when I let things slip that I shouldn't have noticed about her. But it was hard, living with her, to not notice those things that had always slipped my notice before. Little things, like how she took her coffee and how she hated socks. How she never ate ice cream before ten at night or how she checked the well hidden police scanner in her room when her mom was late getting home.

"I don't think you could handle my system. There's lots of color coding, highlighters, and flashcards involved," she said with a smirk as she started picking at her strawberries.

"So football, huh? I guess I shouldn't really be surprised. You're good at everything," I continued. Caroline scoffed.

"I am not good at everything," she argued.

"Name two things you're bad at," I challenged as I started to eat her delicious sandwich.

"Math and…pool," she responded quickly.

"Those are things that you pretend to be bad at to make other people feel good about themselves. They don't count. You forget that I've seen your math tests and played pool with you when you're wildly drunk. You forget to miss your shots and then are surprised when you win," I countered. She gave me the look again. "I mean something that you're exceptionally terrible at. Not something that you've never done or something that you could get if you practiced enough but something that you really cannot do no matter how hard you try." Caroline thought for a minute.

"Fine, I'm good at everything," she huffed, as if wanting to move on to another subject.

"That's what we're going to do today."

I found myself regretting that decision a couple hours later as I stared at Caroline's perfectly manicured hand knock over my king.

"Check mate," she smirked and I gave her an incredulous look.

"I don't believe it," I whined. "I'm actually really good at chess!"

"Well I'm better at distraction," Caroline said smugly and I realized what her strategy had been. I had gone into the game too confident and played right into her trap.

"You're an evil mastermind," I whispered and Caroline laughed at my dramatics. I was being silly, I knew, but I could only ever be silly with Caroline, so I had to get it out of my system. I leaned back in my chair as Caroline sat back and comically sighed as if she was tired of showing me up. "Okay, so we've tried chess, we've tried card tricks, juggling, fencing, calligraphy, I know how good of a cook you are. We've covered all the things that I am good at. So what else should we try?"

"I don't know what does Damon do here all day?" Caroline asked. "Other than stealing girlfriends."

"He just had Jeremy bring over his Xbox," I suggested, ignoring her second comment. "Let's try it."

"I don't think I've played videogames since I was seven," Caroline said as we moved to one of the rooms downstairs with only a couch and a TV. Damon thought having a TV where people could see it was trashy so we only had them in Damon's room and closed off rooms with comfortable but ugly furniture. I set up the game and handed a controller to Caroline. We decided to play a simple racing game. Caroline proceeded to kick my ass. I groaned loudly as the game ended with Caroline as the winner.

"We are going to keep doing this until we find something," I insisted. "We are going to find something that you are so bad at that we can never do it again because you're a control freak and you hate being bad at things. You're going to find something that you fail at!" Caroline smirked confidently at me.

"There's a first time for everything."


	5. The Under-Over Theory

Just a little AU purely for silliness. The language is a little worse in this one but nothing too bad.

 **The Under-Over Theory**

"This is not what I agreed to," I yelled as Lexi dragged me through the club by the arm. I had agreed to go out for a drink, maybe a little dancing, at a nice bar or a speakeasy type club, and though Lexi had refrained from bringing me to an all-out rave this was hardly better. The girls were all dressed in slightly classier things and there were no flashing shot glasses, everyone was slightly less sweaty than the last party she had dragged me to, but the music was too loud and there were a lot of people here.

"Like that has ever mattered!" Lexi yelled back as she let go of my arm at the bar to order drinks. I downed the shot of tequila without complaint, figuring it would make surviving this night easier. Lexi flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder before turning to me with a smirk.

"You ready to get out there and dance?" she asked, playfully bumping her hip into mine. I rolled my eyes and sighed, looking to the ceiling as if to ask why I deserved this. "What? You know this is what college kids are supposed to do, not sitting around being nerdy and watching weird shows."

"They're not weird, they're—" my protest was cut short as I suddenly turned to the bar and away from the crowd.

"What's wrong with you?" Lexi asked and gave me a look that said 'I know I've been your best friend since third grade but you still freak me out sometimes with your awkwardness.'

"Your 5 o'clock, brunette, light pink sweater," I said quickly and quietly. As Lexi turned to look I covertly peered around her at the girl, her straight brown hair rolling around her shoulder as she walked, her black shorts showing off her tan legs. Lexi turned back to me, waiting for an explanation. "That's Elena Gilbert."

"The Elena Gilbert that broke your heart in high school causing you to have a phobia of serious relationships that lasts until this day?" Lexi asked. I had moved away with my mom after sophomore year, leaving Lexi in our hometown, and had met Elena. It hadn't ended that well for me, Elena telling me that I wasn't passionate and that I couldn't love her the way she wanted to be loved. I shushed Lexi as I saw that Elena was walking towards the bar, and consequently, towards us. "Am I kicking her ass or proving the under-over theory to you?" I threw Lexi a glare and furiously shook my head, preparing to say neither when I heard it.

"Stefan Salvatore, is that you?" she called, her Bambi voice ringing over to us. Lexi and I both turned with fake smiles, pretending that we hadn't already seen her.

"Elena!" I exclaimed holding my arms out for a hug which she happily received. I used the opportunity to shoot another glare at Lexi, telling her mutely not to try anything. "What are you doing in Chicago?"

"Oh, I just barely got into town! I have two childhood friends going to Chicago State for business and medical degrees. They're both smarty-pants and I thought I would come visit them. And they're both late," Elena said with a slight eye roll of her big doe eyes. "I heard you're at John Marshall for environmental law?"

"Yeah," I agreed, not knowing what else to say. Elena was still very charming but my heart didn't race the way it used to when I was around her. I guess I really was over her, if not over the feelings of inadequacy that she had left me with. But really my lack of relationships was more due to my busy schedule and not finding anyone that really felt right. Lexi cleared her throat, bringing me back to the matter at hand. "Oh, this is my best friend Lexi," I introduced. Lexi and Elena shook hands.

"I've heard a lot about you, Lexi. And I love your dress," Elena said sweetly, looking up and down at Lexi's dark blue party dress. "Stefan couldn't stop talking about you when we used to date." I was surprised by the tone of her voice, a slight sigh at the end, as if she was a bit exasperated that I had thought so much of another woman when I was with her. Lexi caught that tone immediately.

"Well we've been _friends_ forever," she said immediately and I started to see what she was doing. "Practically brother and sister." Lexi was going to try to prove her theory. And to do that she needed to get Elena to give me another chance. This was going to be embarrassing for the both of us. "Plus, I'm not interested in men. I have a girlfriend." Elena gave Lexi an amused look which Lexi apparently took for a challenge. "In fact she's right here!" Lexi turned quickly to a blonde that was walking past us to the bar, wrapping her arm around the girl's waist and pulling her in tight. "This is my girlfriend!" The girl was gorgeous, her white blonde hair in slightly wild curls, radiant blue eyes lined in dark eye makeup, with a short black dress on with silver studs on the seams and a high neckline, paired with a badass black leather jacket, silver jewelry, and black ankle boots. Her pink lips formed a smile as she looked from Lexi, to me, and then to Elena with a slightly confused, but adorable, look.

"Mm-hmm," Elena said with a smirk, showing her disbelief. Lexi then turned determinedly to the girl she had grabbed and planted a firm kiss on her mouth. The girl raised her eyebrows but quickly kissed her back, raising a hesitant hand on Lexi's hip. I couldn't help but gape. I had seen Lexi kiss girls before, she liked to say she was heteroflexible, but something about this particular girl was intriguing and from what I could see she was a very good kisser. I was starting to feel a little hot under the collar when Lexi pulled away with a satisfied grin and then turned back to Elena. The blonde glanced at me for a second and I quickly gave her an amused shrug, trying to hide the slack-jawed drooling look that I had had a second before. I glanced away from her hesitant smile but got caught on her long shapely legs.

"So, Caroline, when were you going to tell me you had a girlfriend?" Elena asked and I turned to her, confused. And then I realized she was looking at the blonde. Lexi's eyes went comically wide and I hid a short laugh behind a cough and looked to the ground to hide my smile.

"Well," the blonde-Caroline- began and gave Lexi and then me a look. I was for sure that she was going to say that she hadn't been told either, or something along those lines. "I was going to tell you when you got here, but I see my girlfriend has ruined the surprise," Caroline said, sending a faux glare towards Lexi, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. I smiled even wider as I realized the girl was playing along. Pulled into a stranger's conversation, kissed without any explanation in front of her friend, and then quick enough to play along. I liked her already. Elena was about to speak when her phone started ringing. She pulled it out of her pocket to look at the ID.

"It's my boyfriend, Damon. I should take it," Elena said giving us all another highly suspicious but amused glance. "But we're talking about this when we get back," she directed towards Caroline. "Do you want me to say hi to Damon for you?"

"Yes, tell him he's an asshole and to stop butting in to girls weekend so I can change your mind about ever giving him the time of day," Caroline said sweetly and I covered another laugh as Elena simply rolled her eyes and turned to find a quieter place to take her call. As soon as she was out of sight Caroline grabbed my arm and pulled me to the bar, shoulder to shoulder with her with Lexi on the other side. She leaned her head in conspiratorially, with a smirk caught on her pretty mouth.

"We can still pull this off," she said comically with a wriggle of her eyebrows. "Now, first things first, I'll probably need to know your names." I looked to Lexi who looked back at me with a quirked brow and we communicated silently for a second. We liked her.

"I'm Stefan and that girl that assaulted you is Lexi," I said with a smile. Lexi scoffed.

"Stefan Salvatore?" Caroline asked and I nodded with a confused frown. "You're the dreamboat Elena dated senior year?" I gave her a reluctant shrug at the dreamboat comment and she nodded as she got caught up on the situation.

"I was trying to convince your friend to give Stefan another chance, to test the under-over theory, but it seems she has a boyfriend," Lexi admitted with a sigh.

"The theory that after an acceptable amount of time you sleep with an ex so you can realize that once your feelings and new love hormones wore off they were horrible in bed and not that great of a significant other? The 'I'm gonna get back under you just to get over you' philosophy?" Caroline questioned seriously and I gave her a surprised look that she knew what Lexi was talking about. Lexi gave her a solemn and understanding nod which Caroline returned seriously. "Works about 75% of the time I'd say. But yeah Demon is in the way, and as much as I'd love for them to break up, I'm already working on the long con, where I plant doubt into Elena's mind but don't actively do anything so when Damon fucks up all on his own I can just sit back and watch." Caroline turned to me. "Sorry, Stefan."

"That's quite all right," I assured her. "I was about to tell Lexi that seeing Elena again just reaffirmed that I was completely over her, but she was already making out with you so I thought I would let the chips fall where they may." Caroline gave me an amused smile before turning back to Lexi.

"Are you actually into girls?" she asked easily.

"She's heteroflexible," I answered for her and Lexi nodded.

"Well, then we have two options," Caroline said. "We can either play this out and I can be your fabulous girlfriend for the night, saving ourselves from embarrassment, or we can come clean and I can introduce you to my fabulous roommate who actually is gay and also super hot." My heart gave a little jump at the fact that Caroline was interested in boys.

"Well you are a fantastic kisser," Lexi said pretending to hesitate, "But let's go with option two."

"Perfect! Bonnie should be here soon but she had to finish a lab. She's training to be a doctor and she's super smart but like the cutest little firecracker ever. You two will hit it off," Caroline promised, confident in her matchmaking abilities. Just then Elena came strolling back in, dragging a tall man with dark hair and blue eyes behind her excitedly.

"Look who came to surprise me!" she said and I figured the man behind her was Damon. Caroline groaned.

"Blondie, you're looking hot as ever," Damon said with a smirk.

"Damon, I see you've added stalking to your list of skills. Right next to lurking, being a pain in the ass, and probably murdering bunnies," Caroline said snarkily. Damon proceeded to ignore her, and Lexi and I, which I thought was rather rude. Maybe less rude than calling your girlfriend's best friend hot just to annoy her.

"So, sleepover tonight? We can all have a pillow fight in lingerie. You know I like that pink number you used to have Barbie," Damon said. I glanced at Elena but she didn't seem to care, looking to Caroline. Lexi and I both frowned and I felt the urge to separate Caroline from this jerk.

"Oh, sorry Damon but I don't think that's a good idea. Too much temptation," Caroline said seductively, before dropping the act. "I keep my gun at my house and it would be too hard not to shoot you," she explained.

"Caroline, don't be mean. Surely Damon can stay at the house with us for the weekend," Elena scolded and I found my frown deepening.

"He surely canNOT," said a voice from behind me. We all turned to see a beautiful and tiny girl with gorgeous dark skin and a spunky haircut, wearing a white lace dress. I figured this was Bonnie, Caroline's roommate. "You two can find a hotel for the night and then Caroline and I will see ELENA tomorrow." Lexi's eyebrows quirked up at the spitfire before her and I could see why Caroline thought they would be a good match.

"Judgy," Damon greeted Bonnie. "Well then we'd best be going." Damon took Elena's arm and practically dragged her from the club.

"Well, he's a piece of work," said Lexi. I couldn't help but agree.

"Bonnie!" Caroline exclaimed happily, already over the exchange with Damon. "Meet our new friends Stefan," she patted my shoulder with a breathtaking smile and then turned to Lexi, giving her a slight push towards Bonnie, "and Lexi who's a fantastic kisser." Bonnie laughed incredulously at that.

"I think I need to hear this story," Bonnie said lightheartedly. "But first I'm going to go make sure that Damon and Elena find somewhere to stay and don't just go back home. At least try to salvage girls weekend." Caroline nodded reluctantly and let Bonnie go.

"So, new friends," Caroline said, turning back to Lexi and I. "Tell me about yourselves."

"Stefan's studying environmental law at John Marshall and I am crashing with him until my paintings get a bit more publicity and start making me money," Lexi explained.

"Stefan, I'm sorry but your best friend is WAY cooler than you," Caroline teased and I rolled my eyes.

"Stefan is sort of an artist too. He writes poetry," Lexi revealed and I gave her a glare.

"Really?" Caroline said, looking interested, but before I could respond a redhead came up to me and asked me to dance, I looked back to Caroline. "That's okay, go dance!" she shooed me off. I grimaced and followed the girl out onto the dance floor. I couldn't help but wish I was dancing with Caroline.

* * *

"So he's super hot," I said as I turned to Lexi and she let out a laugh at my forwardness. This night had been very interesting so far, getting kissed by a perfect, and female, stranger, trying to sell the story to Elena, having Damon show up, and Stefan, this cute guy who seemed funny and cool.

"Yeah, well the feeling is mutual," Lexi said. "We've been friends since third grade, so I'd like to think I know him pretty well. And he likes you." I smiled at that, glancing out at the dance floor where Stefan was grimacing and awkwardly dancing with the redhead. He was attractive, in a brooding romance novel kind of way but also kind of nerdy which I found endearing. And I could practically melt in his green eyes. I stopped before I started drooling.

"So tell me about your paintings," I said to Lexi.

"I do mostly contemporary pieces, oil on canvas. When I'm hired for something I stick to a color scheme but I like doing the darker themes the best, a little bit of the trashier street vibe in there. Very sexy," she responded.

"When you come to our house you should take a look around with your artists eye and see where we need something. I could hire you for a painting or two," I suggested.

" _When_ I come to your house?" Lexi asked.

"If you know Stefan, then I know Bonnie. Trust me, you're her type. She had a crush on _me_ when we first met and she admitted confident tall blondes were her ultimate fantasy," I said with a laugh.

"So I don't need to worry about being too forward then?" Lexi asked with a touch of nervousness.

"No," I assured her. "Bonnie appreciates straight forwardness more than anyone I know. You'll be an item by the end of the night." Lexi rolled her eyes at that and I laughed. We sat down on some stools at the mostly empty bar.

"So if Bonnie's the doctor you're the business degree?" Lexi asked and I nodded.

"Eventually I want to work for a non-profit. I'm very good at convincing people to do things, especially spending money. Also, I'm good at bossing people around so when I eventually become CEO and become a powerful woman of New York, everyone will bow before me," I said with a sweet smile. Lexi laughed.

"I think that will be pretty easy for you," she said. "But gross talking about money and stuffy businessmen all day."

"I tried the starving artist route, but it didn't pan out," I admitted. "In high school I was in a punk rock band and we traveled the west coast for a while after I graduated. We weren't very good but I made some great friends in the industry and they get me tickets to great shows. We should go to a concert sometime!" Lexi groaned.

"I'm so glad I kissed you!" she exclaimed and I laughed. Just then Bonnie came back inside and sat on the other side of Lexi at the bar, which I internally cheered at.

"Elena says she knows you don't have a girlfriend and she's angry at you for breaking your pact. She expects a Caroline Forbes apology plus gift package and payment in the form of sexual favors, her words not mine," Bonnie stated and I laughed. "What pact is she talking about?"

"Freshman year of college, Elena and I made a pact that if we ever were going to experiment with girls we would do it with each other before anyone else," I explained.

"What about me?" Bonnie said, pretending to be insulted.

"You're too experienced, Bon, it wouldn't be experimenting," I pointed out and Bonnie rolled her eyes. "And didn't I order you to wear something red?"

"Following orders isn't my style," Bonnie stated with a smirk.

"Did you just quote the Avengers?" Stefan said, appearing behind us, having ditched the redhead. His hair was a little disheveled and I couldn't help thinking it was pretty sexy like that. It made me want to mess it up a little more. Bonnie made an excited noise before nodding and giving Stefan a high-five. Lexi groaned.

"Nerds! It's a good thing you're both cute," she said with a wink to Bonnie, who smiled before standing up.

"I think that's my cue to ask you to dance," Bonnie said and Lexi gave her a huge grin, letting Bonnie pull her out onto the dance floor.

"Stefan, buy my ex-girlfriend a drink!" Lexi shouted back and I giggled.

* * *

I sat down next to Caroline and looked her over for a second as she laughed at the retreating forms of Bonnie and Lexi. Even though I had just met her tonight it seemed like we had a comfortable ease around each other. When I wasn't paying attention to the fact that she was insanely attractive and I just wanted to kiss her.

"So what are we drinking?" I asked, drawing her gaze to me. Her bright blue eyes danced in the low lighting.

"Bourbon," she said and I ordered us some drinks. "So, I've decided to keep Lexi."

"Oh, yeah?" I asked with a laugh.

"Yep, I'm stealing her. I'm figuring I'll distract her with concert tickets and then Bonnie will sleep with her, sealing the deal. She's going to move in with us and you'll never see her again," Caroline said confidently.

"Hmm, I don't know if I'm down for that plan," I teased. Caroline sighed.

"Okay, I'll trade you Bonnie. You guys can nerdfest together and Lexi and I will do things that are actually fun," she said, before tossing back her drink with a wink.

"I don't know how easy it's going to be to separate them now. We've been friends since the third grade so I'd like to think I know her pretty well. And she likes her," I said nodding to Bonnie and Lexi on the dance floor, dancing super close and smiling wide. Caroline was still looking at me with a soft smile on her face. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just you guys are really close. It's nice," she said gently, not joking for once. I nodded with a smile.

"So you were pretty quick on your feet earlier with the whole charade," I mentioned.

"Yeah, you'd be surprised how often that happens to me," Caroline said seriously and I rolled my eyes. I looked at her for a second as she sipped on another drink. I normally wasn't very forward with girls, not that I needed to be, but something told me that Caroline wouldn't mind a little bit of flirting.

"Well, you're definitely the most interesting person I've met in a long time. First of all, you're gorgeous, obviously," I said and Caroline beamed at me, "and you're smart, business degree. You are super funny, have a great roommate, do favors for strangers with no questions asked, snarky when you need to be, and I think I heard something about a gun?"

"My mom was a cop so she got me a concealed carry as soon as I turned twenty-one. We Forbes are very tough women," Caroline said.

"I have no doubt. You handled Damon pretty well."

"Yeah, well he's a dick but that's a story for another time," Caroline said with an easy shrug.

"Another time, huh?" I smirked and Caroline gave me an amused glance.

"Well, if you'd ever ask me on a date," she said, sounding exasperated and impatient.

"Caroline Forbes, will you have dinner with me next Saturday?" I asked immediately.

"Yes," she said decisively, "and then I will take you, Lexi, and Bonnie to a concert at the new speakeasy downtown." I smiled at her, a little amazed at her charm. Her phone started ringing and she pulled it out and sighed. "But, right now I have to go find a hotel for my best friend at her boyfriend from hell." She stood up and I gave her a smile though I was disappointed that she was leaving. She gave me a look before quickly grabbing beckoning a bartender, grabbing a pen from his shirt pocket and then grabbing my hand and scrawling her number on the back of it. "Do me a favor and tell Bonnie I'll meet her at home, and that her curfew is midnight," Caroline said as she gave the bartender back his pen. "And then do me another favor and call me." I nodded, looking down at my hand, already looking forward to seeing her again.

Caroline took my face gently in her hands, tilting it up to meet hers and leaned slowly to kiss me. Her lips were warm and soft against my own and the kiss was sweeter and more innocent than I expected. It caused a little shiver to roll down my spine. She pulled back enough to look me in the eyes, still holding my face.

"I like daisies by the way," she said with a wink and then turned to leave. I shook my head in amazement at the whirlwind of a girl that I had just met. I was still looking out after her as Lexi and Bonnie rejoined me at the bar. Lexi whistled at my awestruck expression and she couldn't help but comment.

"So I'm thinking a June wedding."


End file.
